Margaret Thatcher's family are 'appalled' at Meryl Streep film

Film about Margaret Thatcher's life, which is expected to star Meryl Streep,
shows the former prime minister as a dementia-sufferer looking back at her
life with sadness.

Actress Meryl Streep is set to play Baroness Margaret Thatcher in the upcoming filmPhoto: REUTERS

Tim Walker. Edited by Richard Eden

6:30AM BST 17 Jul 2010

Although the prospect of Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher may have pleased some admirers of the Conservative former prime minister, her children have been horrified to discover more about the film.

Margaret Thatcher during the 1982 Conservative Party Conference

Mandrake hears that the screenplay of The Iron Lady depicts Baroness Thatcher as an elderly dementia-sufferer looking back on her career with sadness. She is shown talking to herself and unaware that her husband, Sir Denis Thatcher, has died.

“Sir Mark and Carol are appalled at what they have learnt about the film,” says a friend of the family. “They think it sounds like some Left-wing fantasy. They feel strongly about it, but will not speak publicly for fear of giving it more publicity."

Cameron McCracken, the managing director of the film-maker Pathé, confirms: "It is true that the film is set in the recent past and that Baroness Thatcher does look back on both the triumphs and the lows of her extraordinary career.

"It is a film about power and the price that is paid for power. In that sense, it is the story of every person who has ever had to balance their private life with their public career."